Not just the music - All about jazz

As part of my MA in History, I completed a placement for the National Jazz Archive in April 2022. I catalogued part of Roy Hulbert's personal collection who was a lifelong jazz fan and donated his collection to the archive in his will. Hulbert's collection consists of personal items and jazz memorabilia, including autographs, concert tickets, an …

Saxophonist Johnny Griffin grew up in Chicago in the 1930s, and recalled: “… there was always music in the house, jazz, gospel, or whatever. Especially jazz records.” The invention of the phonograph enabled music to be preserved, reproduced and replayed for the first time. When wax cylinders were replaced by shellac discs, they could be manu …

In this second and final part of Nikki Santilli's exploration of authentic jazz dance, we discover the various styles and their evolution. If you missed the first part of our series, you can read it in our Articles section found within the menu. Lead image: 'Jitterbug (V)', between 1941-42, by William H Johnson. Smithsonian American Art Museum. …

John Rosie rediscovers the contribution made by pioneering British jazz drummer Sheelagh Pearson and looks at her career alongside that of some other notable female drummers. Whilst in the process of updating our online interview collection, we have been adding short biographies of more than 200 jazz artists. This has been a labour of love that ha …

Dancer, teacher and writer Nikki Santilli explores the development of jazz dance through the different musical eras. This article continues from our recent Top 10 questions about jazz series, which addresses the basic question: What is jazz dance? In this first part of a two-part article, we introduce the concept of authentic jazz dance and desc …

In this third and final part of our series on the top 10 most asked questions about jazz, we cover the final two questions often asked by new-comers to jazz: What are the different jazz styles? Where does the name jazz come from? The National Jazz Archive is grateful to all who continue to write about jazz online and we've included some online …

In the second part of our three-part series, ‘The top 10 most asked questions about jazz’, we have taken some of the most popular questions asked on the internet about jazz and provided answers for those intrigued about this great art form. Here we have addressed the three questions from numbers 6, 7 and 8 of the top 10: How did jazz influenc …

By analysing queries asked on the internet, we have identified 10 of the most commonly asked questions about jazz and will provide answers to them in this three-part series. The National Jazz Archive wants to help newcomers to this great art form by providing this introductory information all in one place. This addresses the questions asked about …

Roger Cotterrell takes a retrospective look at an evocative and engaging memoir by jazz writer Ralph Berton. It takes real skill and talent to be able to evoke in print a completely vanished social world – like, for example, the so-called ‘jazz age’ in America in the 1920s. For all of us that is just history now and, while historians can tel …

Roger Cotterrell remembers poet, trumpeter and flugelhorn player Shake Keane as the first biography is published about this groundbreaking jazz musician. How many jazz listeners know Shake Keane’s music now? How many even know his name? There is a loyal minority (and not just jazz people but also lovers of Caribbean music traditions, as well as …